DIFFICULTIES OF AIR TRANSPORT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 299, 13 September 1919, Page 7

DIFFICULTIES OF AIR TRANSPORT

THE ENGINE PROBLEM

HANDLEY PAGE'S VIEWS

It is one thing to write on what an ideal aoroplane could do under certain circumstances, another to dwell on the difficulties before the aerial manager with his present equipment and organisation. Everyone is usking to-day, "Will serious aerial transport undertakings prove a success? AVhat aro the chances of regularity of service, reliability, safety? There is a lot' of sensationalism in Atfentio flights, non-stops to Madrid, air expeditions to the Poles, etc., but when shnll I bo able to get to Bournemouth and back by air for the day?" • .' It must be understood that at present we aro parsing through wliat the Govern-' ment terms our transition period. Free flying to the Continent is not possible. Factories are not absolutely roleased from control—in fact few important manufacturers have a machine to call their own. These aro tho hindrances responsible.for the present delay, but when thpv automatically pass away what difficulties remain? First, King Fog. Our climate assumes many a weird guise and changcs its faco oftener than Daine Fortune herself. But no form of weather remains a serious foe to the airman except fog. Experiments of varying value are constantly being made and followed up, and fog-flying will'certainly bo a necessary art to the air pilot seeking employment in.the future; it will include a thorough knowledge and practice of all the organisation for taking off and landing in fog, with a practical application of ordinary navigation for use above extensive banks of cloud aud fog. The airman who looks foninrd to a life in British skies, will have to resign himself to face the weather with, a shrug' of his siioulders ami no more than a passing sign of envy for hisluckier brethren, in. 6iioh ideal climea as South Africa, India, Australia, or New Zealand. ..

The war showed us that it takes several dozen men on the ground to keep one in the air. AVhat is all this ground staff doing? Tho air transport organiser alone can answer this in detail, showing what number he will require for flying staff, aerodrome staff, meteorologists office clerks, carmen, and motor drivers, timekeepers, watchmen for emerEeucy landing grounds, and small bands ot experts in a hundred and one odd capacities. Securing punctual starts will .entail a great strain on the aerodromo staff so.long as engines aro still a trifle capricious in this matter. Weather charting has' become a highly developed science, and whether the civil .oflrTal companies will supply their own staffs or depend on Government assistance is. not yet. settled- Each main aerodrome will have to boast a meteorological bureau.

■ Emergency landing grounds must • at first be .organised along routes to be'covered. At present the ; deal interval for these 'on much frequented, routes is said fn be ten miles. These could be near towns or other places of importance, and local .bodies might be induced to maintain them and undertake their, illumination for the guidance of nighf-Hiers. Travellers on every main route will then he absolutely safe from accidents due to Torced landings on unsuitable ground through engine failure. One of ; ,the-.most important, branches of; ground organisation is naturally the pro--vision-of transport to and from aerodromes—the first and last stages df a lournev by air. The ideal is that the- traveller should be met by n oar 'at his .'house door,-whisked , off .to t.TTf» aerodrome, . there to find the engines running and all ready for his departure, aiid .be handed into a comfortable saloon without extra dressing-up or any such delay or discomfort. The reverse process should take place at ,his destination. This will not be-difficult to achieve. The business man travelling from one important'town to another finds the railway station very convenient—usually afew minutes away—whereas ail aerodrome •would ; be ■ outside'the-.town, i The'ur .transport-' cbmnany 'must therefore coin-' pensate him for : this by providing efficient transport to and from the aero'drome.

' Another poiu't is the provision; at main landing grounds, of accommodation— either refreshment, rooms or complete hotels—for the convenience of_ travellers.' Stages, however, of a long journey by nircan bo.po nrrnnsed; that each' stopping.plac° is at a town, and, arrang**ments will be marie with the local hotel? for this accommodation.

"Engine the Main Trouble. Our main difficulty to-day lit* in the aircraft engine, lor were tins as ieiia)j,i: as steam or oil types nothing but petrol shortage would bring aboijt xhat avenue to disaster the forced landing, it is true jjower ,units for aircratt are unproved beyond recognition compared wilu 19M typfti, but taking the word reliability in its literal gense they are far from perfect.' The chalice of failure ever uogs even the best engine. Who would have thought such a mishap possible as Ui.'t which befell Hawker ou his first attempt at the Atlantic eroding? When during the war single-engined machines went on a 'bombing raid engine failure . .was 'rare, and usually on!y afiecte<t one out of half 'a dc/.en. Unfortunately if an engine gives trouble, nursing" will, rarely preserve even a part of its [lower— on which the .machine. mi"ht possibly sustain flight at reduced speed, luiilux*.means complete failure; the only certain way to allow for it is to split up the power used into hvo units. It is inconceivable then that both should fail together in these days of advanced engine performance. The modern petrol engine is labouring nnder two great disadvantages, in that .its weight is reduced to the absolute minimum and that it. is run on practically full power the whola of its life. As soon as we have an'engine with a i reasonable power-weight ratio at low | speeds (i.e., throttled down) the power unit problem will have been settled. A reserve of power without increase of weight is needed. , V It should be remarked that we are by no means limited to petrol engines, if experiment "oes for anything, 'l'lio cry is for an efficient engine with a .reserve of power,- and hiirning if possible some ! fuel, such as crifc-2 oil—less inflammable and dangerous and much cheaper than petrol. There is no saying what unit may not be evolved in conformance with this demand. Flying is a 6cionce brought to its pre--1 sent" stage almost entirely by the war. i No other form of transport made such | bounds in its early days, because no I other form' of transport had a stimulus i such as this world-struggle has been to ] aviation. Money has had to bo spent I recklessly lo maintain our aerial suprc- ■ rnacy in' the different theatres of war; .new' machines, with a few seconds' belter climb to 20,000 feet, or half a mile an hour mora speed t.lir.n their predecessors. wore adopted every two or three months, and usually some typo was simultaneotislv declared obsolete. It. is only natural that a ptiiel period should follow, till wo decide on the host types for commercial purposes, and clear up llie waste of Avar,